One particular train of thought that I found interesting was the idea that when we look closer we are able to see in more detail, see marks or textures. Life leaves marks on everything whether material or emotional and this is something that is has been captured by Urban Exploration Photographer, also known as 'Urbex', Henk Van Rensbergen. Born in Belgium 1968, Rensbergen documents abandoned architecture closed off to the public.
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| Insane Asylum, Abandoned Places 1 by Henk Van Rensbergen - Winter 2001 http://bit.ly/p3pjMW |
I was truly captivated by the texture in the image above and of the paper that is still falling from the wall like leaves in autumn. It is as if the building is dismantling itself, moving back to the bare materials it was once built with, or removing the remnants of the human intervention of decoration. The littered chaos of debris conflicts with the neatly coiled cables and lighter area of untouched wall opposite. The chaired area is a reminder of the people that once occupied this room, a mark of their presence here and how they once used it. Left to deteriorate the room is unloved, cold and surplus to requirement, the pealing door is now shut, the finality of it's fate to abandonment.
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| The Silence of the Past by Henk Van Rensbergen |
These places are hunted down because of the anticipation of finding something pure, something that hasn't be spoilt by the human hand for many years. Rensbergen (2010) comments in an interview that a dream place would be 'Any location that is untouched so it can tell a story'. It is about capturing a narrative, an essence or mark of human life from the past and of course, producing that unseen and extraordinary image.
References
Rensbergen, H. (2010) Talk Urbex, Exploring decay abandoned archetitecure..., Guest of the Month, Henk Van Rensbergen gives us his view on urban exploration. (Online) Available from http://www.talkurbex.com/2010/10/henk-van-rensbergen-gives-us-his-view-on-urban-exploration/
(Accessed 17th October 2011).
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